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The
2008 Parents Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) was recently released by
the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and MetLife. The results of the
14th annual survey contains a mixed bag of results, and underscores the
need for parents to take the lead in educating and preventing drug and
alcohol use by their kids.

The Partnership/MetLife
Foundation Parents Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) reveals a strong
increase in parental awareness of the dangers of one of the most
troubling and persistent trends in teen drug use -- teen abuse of
prescription medications.

According to the PATS 2008 survey, in a
single year's time, the number of parents who mistakenly believe that
abusing prescription medicines is "much safer" than using illicit
street drugs dropped by nearly half--from 19 percent in 2007 to just
ten percent in 2008. The same level of progress was reported regarding
beliefs about the addictive potential of some prescription medicines
when misused. In 2007, 24 percent of parents believed that intentional
abuse of prescription medicines would not be addictive. In 2008, that
number decreased significantly to 11 percent.

Yet, the heightened
awareness has yet to translate into increased parental action to
prevent the behavior, however. The data show a small, yet statistically
insignificant, percentage gain in the number of parents who say they
have discussed the dangers of Rx abuse with their teens, from 68
percent in 2007 to 72 percent in 2008. The top three drug topics
parents report discussing with teens are drugs in general, cigarettes
and alcohol.

Other significant findings:

Media Prompts Parent-Teen ConversationsThe
primary -- and increasingly influential -- cue for parent-teen
discussions about drug and alcohol issues is the media, particularly
television. In 2008, 70 percent of parents surveyed reported that
something portrayed in the media prompted a conversation with their
child about drugs or alcohol, and 64 percent specified that they were
motivated to start a discussion by seeing something drug-related on
television. This represents a significant increase from 2007, when 63
percent and 57 percent of parents, respectively, reported the media in
general or television specifically as a cue to talk to teens about
substance abuse.Mothers Take the Lead in Monitoring, Dads Have Opportunity to Engage More With KidsThe
2008 PATS study reveals a jump in the number of parents who are aware
of their ability to influence their teens' decision to use drugs or
alcohol. The percentage of parents who agreed with the statement "there
is very little parents can do to prevent their kids from trying drugs
(other than alcohol)" dropped nearly 40 percent since 2007 to just 21
percent in 2008. More parents believe that they can help prevent
alcohol use as well, with just 23 percent agreeing that there is little
parents can do to prevent drinking, down from 34 percent in 2007.

Within
the home, however, there are dramatic differences in attitudes between
mothers and fathers. Fathers were nearly three times as likely to
believe that drug education should take place in school (34 percent of
fathers versus 10 percent of mothers). Additionally, fathers report
greater difficulty reconciling the desire to have their child see them
as a friend with the need to set rules and monitor their teens. Fathers
were far more likely (18 percent) to report having difficulty enforcing
rules about alcohol, cigarette or drug use than mothers (10 percent).
Fathers also placed greater value on being their child's friend (59
percent of fathers, 51 percent of mothers) although the majority of
parents thought friendship with their child was important. As mothers
take the lead role in monitoring their teens, this creates a unique
opportunity for fathers to engage their children on this important
health issue.